Posted by Terry Powers on January 14, 2024:

Joseph David "Dave" Macklin VVETERAN 24 Dec 1931 Colón, Panama 4 May 2013 (aged 81) Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington Greenacres Memorial Park Ferndale, Whatcom County, Washington, USA PLOT 11-23, Site 2. MEMORIAL ID 122156523 USMA Class of 1954. Cullum No. 20017. Joseph David Dave Macklin was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1931 in Colon, Panama Canal Zone, the son of Charles Buddy and Evelyn Macklin. His father was a World War II naval officer, the sixth generation of continuous military service to the United States since the Revolutionary War. He grew up in Coronado, California, while his father was in the Pacific theater as a submarine commander. At the end of World War II, he attended the Army and Navy Academy, a boarding school located in Carlsbad, California. In 1948 he moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he graduated from Granby High School. He then attended an Army preparatory school. He received an appointment to West Point from Washington Representative Henry Scoop Jackson. In 1954, he graduated from West Point, receiving his commission in the Infantry. The same year he married his high school sweetheart Patricia Patsy Nieman. His first assignment was with the 9th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis in Washington. Next, he was assigned to Fairbanks, Alaska with the 9th Infantry Regiment (Ski Troops). For three years at Ladd Air Force Base, he was a Weapons Platoon Leader, Assistant Battalion S-3 and Assistant Brigade S-3. In 1960 he graduated from the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning in Georgia. He and his family then moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he taught in the ROTC program at Texas Tech University. In December 1961 he reported to Saigon, Vietnam as a counter-insurgency expert and advisor to the Civil Guard and Self Defense Corps, Republic of Vietnam. In 1963 he commanded a Basic Combat Training Company and later served as the S-3, Plans Officer at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. In 1965 he and his family moved to Oslo, Norway, where he was a NATO planner and nuclear weapons advisor to the Norwegian military. After his NATO tour, he attended and graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College. From 1969 to 1970 he served as the G-4 of the 2nd Infantry Division and commanded a battalion in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, Korea. In 1970 he was an intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency and a primary briefer for President Richard Nixon and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird at the Alternate National Military Command Center at Fort Ritchie in Maryland. He continued working for Defense Intelligence at the Pentagon, becoming an expert on force deployment planning for the European theater. He was promoted to colonel and spent his final tour of duty at the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, as a Plans Officer for General Alexander Haig. In April 1978, he retired. His awards included the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge and other campaign and expeditionary awards. After retirement, he worked at the Vinnell Corporation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was responsible for a multinational work force of 1,000 people. In 1987 he and his wife moved to Ferndale, Washington, where they were active in the American Red Cross, Knights of Columbus, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a math tutor with the Ferndale School District and an assistant football coach at Bellingham and Squalicum high schools. He was a stamp collector and later donated his collection to the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California. He was preceded in death by his wife, Patsy in 1994. Survivors included five children, eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Source: United States Military Academy Association of Graduates memorial. Family Members Parents Charles Fearns Macklin 1901--1973 Evelyn Wahl Macklin 1903--1979 Spouse Patricia Nieman Macklin 1931 -1979

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